Goodnight,
Gracie follows a young child who loves Jesus with all her heart.
When she hears noises downstairs, she thinks it’s her mom and stepdad
fighting again, but it turns out to be her stepdad murdering her mom.
Rather than run away or fight back, the girl decides to pray and ask God
to save her.

With Goodnight,
Gracie being a horror movie, is that a genre at all dear to you,
and some of your genre favourites in relation to your movie?

Horror
definitely holds a special place in my heart. Growing up at Comic-Con, I
was exposed to a lot of incredible genre movies as a kid. One of my
all-time favorites is Abbott
and Costello Meet Frankenstein.
It’s so funny, but treats the horror seriously and uses the humor to
make it even more terrifying. There are so many horror movies I love.
Especially Roger Corman [Roger
Corman bio - click here], John Carpenter, Mario Bava [Mario
Bava bio - click here], and Tobe Hooper.

As far as shorts go, I was really inspired by the bite-sized
effectiveness of Mama, Lights Out, and
Night Swim. Guillermo del Toro’s short
Geometria also helped with the domestic, demonic, and brutal
elements of the short.

Features that provided us with a rich tapestry to draw from include the
main “possessed parent” films like Amityville Horror, Poltergeist
(1 and 2), The Conjuring, and The
Shining. Other possession/ghost movies that I showed to the crew
include The Legend of Hellhouse, The Entity, and The Exorcist.

There’s an EC Comic, Vault of Horror #35, that I drew some themes
from.

I also wanted to bring real Christian culture to the film since I was
raised so deep in that world. To help the crew get into Gracie’s
headspace, I showed them Christian kid movies from the early nineties
that Gracie would watch such as Bibleman and Veggie
Tales. These videos have a great theme and message to them, but
the innocence of a child’s mind can take them to a dangerous extreme.

My approach to horror has two huge philosophies that dictate how to pull
off a good scare.

First of all, I believe that there are two types of scares: spectacle
and suspense.

Spectacle scares rely on showing the audiences something outlandish,
gross, or incredible. When the Nazi’s face melts in Raiders of
the Lost Ark, that’s a spectacle scare. Same with the sheep guts
scene in Day of the Dead. Or any scene in
Blood Feast. It’s basically gore porn.

Suspense scares really depend on story and presentation. I hold
Hitchcock’s “bomb under the table” anecdote as scripture. It’s a
lot more interesting if the audience knows more than the characters. And
the suspense needs to be structured like a joke. Horror and comedy are
two sides of the same coin with setup and punchline. That’s why movies
like Shaun of the Dead work so well.

Anyway, I used these two philosophies in Goodnight,
Gracie.
The whole scene functions as a sick horror version of a joke. It’s a
setup to make the punchline pack its punch. The spectacle scare comes in
with the gory shots of Mom. The first moments of the end credits are
also a spectacle in a way.

Goodnight,
Gracie does have its gory moment to it - so do talk about this
scene for a bit, and how was it achieved?

The gory moment
is the spectacle scare showcase of the short. It’s just brief enough to
shock you, but not long enough to be pornographic. We had an awesome
makeup artist, Allie Shehorn, who was able to achieve the effect through
latex and animal parts. If you want great gore, it’s got to be real
animal parts. We also had the actress in a green sock and the VFX guys at
Aureate Films painted out the leg and added a gory nub in post.

What can you
tell us about your overall directorial approach to your story at hand?

I
wanted to make a film that I’d want to see, so I took all my favorite
horror tropes and distilled them into a four-minute scene. "Cliché"
is just a pejorative way of saying "trope". When earned and used
well, tropes are one of the most foundational and effective tools of
visual communication. Everyone knows what a trope signifies, but you’ve
got to subvert the trope or earn it.

Do
talk about your cast, and why exactly those people?

We were lucky to have an incredible cast. I actually wrote the part of
the killer with Courtney Gains in mind. I was a big fan of
Children of the Corn and Hardbodies. Not only
does Courtney have a rich career that spans horror and comedy, but he
can pull off scary characters that wink at the audience without being
over the top. I also think his character in this film is thematically
similar to some characters from his early work.

Caige Coulter, who plays Gracie, is a precocious actor with a bright
future ahead. We auditioned about thirty girls for Gracie. As soon as
Caige finished her audition, we were all in tears and the producers and
I knew we had our girl.

A
few words about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere?

I
strive to create a comfortable and cheery set. As the director, you’re
just a glorified cheerleader. The director’s job is to give everyone the
confidence to do their job well, especially the actors. And to get
everyone in the right headspace, I recruited a priest to come bless and
exorcise any spirits from the set on the first day of shooting. I wanted
everyone, especially the actors, to feel that these forces real.

At your local film festival! We’ve been lucky enough to get selected
for nearly a dozen film festivals across the globe so far, and that’s
just this month! In October we’ll be premiering at the #1 genre
festival on earth in Sitges, Spain. Then we screen in New York,
Telluride, Puerto Rico, Mexico City, Knoxville, San Antonio, and more. I
hope to see you there!

We’re also going to release it online sometime next year once we’ve
played at the festivals!

So far, the audience has been incredibly
responsive to the short. I made it for them, so that’s the most
gratifying aspect. The critics have also been overwhelmingly positive.
It’s been a real blessing to be featured in so many great outlets with
positive things to say about our film. It was also an honor to receive a
review from (re)Search my Trash.

Any future projects you'd like to share?

The
producers have a slate of horror we’re developing. I just finished the
first draft of a new feature script in a similar genre and tone to Goodnight,
Gracie. It’s a different story, and *knock on
wood* it’s what I’d like to make next.

What
got you into making movies in the first place, and did you receive any
formal education on the subject?

I wanted to make movies
from the day I was born. It's just always been something I lived and
breathed. I went to UCLA where I majored in history and minored in
film. The film minor was great for learning the business aspects of film,
but all of the on set experience I received was from working on my
friends’ films. I’ve also been working as a literary manager for about
five years, so that has allowed me to learn from many of the great
filmmakers working today.

I love to write and make movies. I wrote my
first “screenplay” at age 12 and roped my brothers into acting. I made
a thesis project in high school that was such biting satire that they
changed the school’s curriculum to avoid projects like that. I made a
couple of films in college. About two years ago, I started earnestly
making films. I’ve done a professional music video, and another short, String!, that played at a few festivals.

How would you describe yourself as a
director?

I just REALLY care about my movies. I like to err
on the side of too f***ing meticulous. I like to get people excited. I
like to show up with a good script and a good smile.

Filmmakers who inspire you?

Roman
Polanski really inspires me. I love how he takes B movies and turns them
into art. Movies like Chinatown and Rosemary’s Baby are
one step away Roger Corman [Roger
Corman bio - click here] and William Castle. I also love Roger Corman,
John Waters, John Carpenter, Wes Craven, Richard Matheson, Mark Robson,
Fritz Lang, and so, so many more!

I know it is sacrilegious to say this, but I
really dislike Fight Club and 2001: A Space
Odyssey. I think Fight Club is hokey and wannabe artsy.
It tries too hard and the twist is just ok. I’ve tried to watch 2001 so
many times including in a theater, but I think it’s a total snoozefest.
I always fall asleep thirty minutes into it.

Anything else you're dying to mention and I have
merely forgotten to ask?

Thanks for interviewing me! This
has been a lot of fun. I love (re)Search my Trash and it’s an honor to
be featured! Also want to thank Graham, Gloria, Evidence Productions, the
cast & crew, and Patricia Chica [Patricia
Chica interview - click here] for hooking us up!!!